Means for controlling the direction of the flow of a liquid or fluid through a selected outlet and for sealing said outlets

ABSTRACT

The device includes a housing having an inlet and two or more outlets, with a manually rotatable member positioned within said housing for selectively controlling the flow through said outlets. The rotatable member has a pair of curvilinear arms, with one of said arms supporting a pad formed of a semi-resilient material which serves to seal the outlets.

United States Patent 1 Gore et al.

111 3,709,256 [451 Jan. 9, 1973 [54] MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE DIRECTIONOF THE FLOW OF A LIQUID OR FLUID THROUGH A SELECTED OUTLET AND FORSEALING SAID OUTLETS [75] Inventors: William C. Gore, Elgin; Eugene B.

Shapiro, Highland Park, both of 111.

[73] Assignee: Beatric Foods Company, operating through its divisionChicago Specialty Manufacturing Co., Skokie, Ill.

[22] Filed: Feb. 8, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 113,140

[52] US. Ci .L.l37/625.47, 251/312 [51] Int. Cl ..Fl6k 11/00 [58] Fieldof Search ..137/625.46, 625.47, 625.41;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,458,644 6/1923 Dempsey..251/312 2,433,732 12/1947 Brown 3,254,872 6/1966 Roos 2,836,388 5/1958Rakus 2,906,293 9/ 1959 Fraser et al....

3,057,350 10/1962 Couley 3,130,952 4/1964 Meyer I 3,536,101 10/1970Bosworth ..25l/287 X Primary Examiner-Samuel Scott Attorney-Max R; Kraus5 7 ABSTRACT The device includes a housing having an inlet and two ormore outlets, with a manually rotatable member positioned within saidhousing for selectively controlling the flow through said outlets. Therotatable member has a pair of curvilinear arms, with one of said armssupporting a pad formed of a semi-resilient material whichserves to sealthe outlets.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEUJMI 9 I973 INVENTORS WILLIAM C. GOREEUGENE B. SHAPIRO QM ATTORNEY MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE DIRECTION OF THEFLOW OF A LIQUID OR FLUID THROUGH A SELECTED OUTLET AND FOR SEALING SAIDOUTLETS BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION formed in the central bore of thehousing during the molding of the housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the components forming thisinvention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view looking at same from the handle.

7 FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but with the rotatable member rotated90 from that of FIG. 5.

The device includes a'housing or body generally indicated by the numeral10 which may be molded of plastic material. The housing has an upperinlet end designated by the numeral 12 which is a bore and which isinternally threaded as at 14 so that it may be coupled or connected tothe input pipe 16. Communicating with the inlet bore 12 is a port orpassageway 18 of a reduced dimension which in turn communicates with acentrally positioned tubular or cylindricalshaped bore 20 which extendstransversely of the housing and which tapers towards the bottom end wall22 of the bore. An annular recess 24 is formed in the bottom end wall 22to accommodate the ends of the cantilever arms of the rotatable member,presently to be described.

The housing 10 has a lower end 26 which is externally threaded as at 27.The lower end has a bore 28 which communicates with the centraltransverse bore 20 through a reduced port or passageway 21 but which isin direct axial alinement with the bore or passageway 18. For purpose ofthis specification, the lower outlet end 26 may sometimes hereinafter bereferred to as a first outlet. A shower head, not shown, is adapted tobe attached orcoupled to the lower end 26 of the body through the mediumof the threads 27.

The body or housing 10 has a lateral extension 30 which is alined withthe transverse bore 20 and said extension has a bore 32 communicatingwith the central transverse bore 20. The bore 32 has a slightly largerdiameter than the diameter of the front end of the transverse bore 20. Ashoulder 34 is provided therebetween.

The body or housing 10 has another lateral extension 36 which ispositioned 90 from the lateral extension 30. The lateral extension 36 isexternally threaded as at 37 and has a bore 38 which communicates withthe central transverse bore 20 through a reduced port or passageway 39,as best seenv in FIGS. 5 and 6. A flexible spray pipe, not shown, isadapted to be attached or coupied to the lateral extension 36 throughthe medium of the threads 37. This outlet in extension 36 may sometimeshereinafter be referred to as a second outlet.

Rotatably supported within the, housing 10 is a rotatable membergenerally designated by the numeral 40 and best shown in perspective inFIG. 1, which is preferably molded of plastic or the like, and consistsof a handle 42, an annular head 44, an annular neck or stem 46 ofreduced diameter, and a pair of diametrically opposed spacer curvilinearor arcuate-shaped members or arms, one of which-is designated by thenumeral 48 and the other designated by the numeral 50.

The spacing of the arms 48 and 50 provide a pair of longitudinal ports52, one on each side of the arms, which are in alinement and which serveas passageways for the flow of the liquid or fluid, as will besubsequently described.

The arm 48 has an opening or port 54 which when the rotatable member 40is inserted into the housing is adapted to register or aline with thebore 18. The arm 50 is provided with a recess or pocket 51 ofrectangular shape and a small communicating opening 53. Seated withinsaid recess 51 is a pad 55 of a vinyl plastic or medium hard rubber or alike material. Vinyl plastic is preferred because of its wear resistantqualities. The small opening 53 serves as a pressure relief opening wheninserting the clost fitting pad 55 into the recess 51. The bottom of therecess 53 has a curvature conforming to the curvature of the arm 50 andthe pad 55 also has a curvature conforming to the curvatureof the arm50.

When the rotatable member 40 is inserted into the tapered transversebore 20 in the body, the linearly straight but radially curved arms 48and 50 deflect towards each other and this causes the arms to assume thesame tapered diameter of the transverse bore 20 in the body 10. The endsof the arms 48 and 50 are positioned in the annular recess 24 in the endwall of the body. As best seen in FIG. 3, the neck or stem 46 of therotatable member 40 is positioned within the bore of the lateralextension 30, with the annular head 44 abutting against the outside edgeof the lateral extension 30.

The pad 55 which has a semi-flexible surface .will contact and bearagainst the wall surface of the'cylindrical-shaped tapered bore 20 andwill also bear against the ports 21 and 39 which communicaterespectively with the bores 28 and 38 and thereby achieve a superiorsealing with said ports. In the molding of the housing or body10,thesurface of the-bore 20 mayhave certain irregularities and the pad55 will compensate and adjust to those irregularities. In addition, thepad 55 will cause additional deflection of the arm 50-which in thetapered'bore 20. The major springiness comes from the deflection of thearms 48 and 50 in the tapered bore 20. Thepad 53 which is flexible tosome extent adds tothe springiness of the arm 50 and thereby increasesthe sealing of the ports with which it comes in contact.

The lateral extension 30 of the housing is provided with a radial slot56' at the edge of the extension to provide an open face slot. A detent58 formed on the neck of the rotatable member 40 rides in said open faceslot 56. The detent is adjacent the head 44 of said rotatable member.The 90 radial-slot 56 and the detent 58 permits the rotatable member tobe rotated 90.

The neck or stem of the rotatable member 40 is provided with an annulargroove or slot 60 which is engaged by a locking pin 62 inserted througha suitable opening in the lateral extension 30 of the housing to retainthe rotatable member 40 within the housing. The neck or stem 46 of therotatable member 40 has an annular recess 64 to accommodate a standardO-ring 66 to form a leak-proof connection between the rotatable memberand the housing.

While the invention herein isnot limited for use with a shower unit, oneof its applications is for that purpose. ln any case, the input or inletbore 12 is threadedly connected to the input water pipe 16, or a showerunit, and the opposite outlet end 26 is threadedly connected to a showerhead or the like. The lateral extension 36 is externally threaded andcan be connected to a flexible hose (not shown) for a'personal shower orthe like.

The operation of the device will be apparent from the foregoing butbriefly described is as follows. When the handle 42 positionstherotatable member 40 to the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the flowwill be through the port 54 of the arm 48 of the rotatable member 40which will be in registry withthe port or bore 18, with the-other arm 50closing the entrance into the lower'outlet bore 28. In this position anywater or fluid coming through the input pipe 16 into the inlet end wouldpass through the port 18, through the opening or port 54 in the arm 48,impinge against or be deflected by'the lower arm 50 and be directedoutwardly through the longitudinal port 52 of the rotatable member andthrough the bore 38 in the lateral extension 36. If a flexible hose isconnected to the lateral extension 36 then the water will pass outthrough the flexible hose for a personal shower or the like.

By rotating the handle 42 counterclockwise 90, the arms 48 and 50 arepositioned as' shown in FIG. 6,'s0 that the two opposed longitudinalports 52 between the arms are in registry with the upper inlet bore 18and the lower outlet bore 28, in which case the water will pass throughthese alined bores 18 and 28 and be discharged through'th'elower outletend 26 and through the shower head (not shown), but attached thereto.When it is desired to close off the outlet 'end 26 and have the waterpass through the lateral outlet end 36, the handle 42 is rotatedclockwise 90". i

What is claimed is:

1. Means for controlling the direction of flow of a liquid or fluid to aselected outlet, said means comprising a housing having an inlet and afirst outlet and a second outlet, with said second outlet offset withrespect to said first outlet, said housing having a central bore withports communicating with said inlet and said first and second outlets,said central bore tapering inwardly toward the end wall of said housing,a rotatable member positioned in said bore, said rotatable member havinga pair of diametrically opposed spaced curvilinear arms adapted to nestwithin said tapered central bore, said tapering bore causing said armsto deflect towards each other so that the arms apply a pressure againstthe ports communicating with said central bore, one of said curvilineararms having a recess, a concave-convex pad supported in said recess andconforming substantially to thecurvature of the across said first andsecond outlets to seal said outlets, said spaced arms defining portstherebetween adapted to be selectively positioned in registry with saidinlet port and with said first and second outlet ports when saidrotatable member is rotated to direct the'flow either through saidfirstoutlet port or through said second outlet port.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 in which the pad a semi-flexiblesurface.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 in which the recess in saidcurvilinear arm has a curvilinear bottom and in which the concavo-convexpad conforms to the curvilinear bottom.

4. A device as defined in claim 3 in which the pad is of a vinyl plasticmaterial. v

5. A device as defined in claim 3 in'which said recess has an openingcommunicating through 'the botto wall of said recess. s 1 s a: a: s Q

has

1. Means for controlling the direction of flow of a liquid or fluid to aselected outlet, said means comprising a housing having an inlet and afirst outlet and a second outlet, with said second outlet offset withrespect to said first outlet, said housing having a central bore withports communicating with said inlet and said first and second outlets,said central bore tapering inwardly toward the end wall of said housing,a rotatable member positioned in said bore, said rotatable member havinga pair of diametrically opposed spaced curvilinear arms adapted to nestwithin said tapered central bore, said tapering bore causing said armsto deflect towards each other so that the arms apply a pressure againstthe ports communicating with said central bore, one of said curvilineararms having a recess, a concavo-convex pad supported in said recess andconforming substantially to the curvature of the arm and contacting aportion of the surface of said central bore and adapted to be alinedwith and extend across said first and second outlets to seal saidoutlets, said spaced arms defining ports therebetween adapted to beselectively positioned in registry with said inlet port and with saidfirst and second outlet ports when said rotatable member is rotated todirect the flow either through said first outlet port or through saidsecond outlet port.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1 in which the padhas a semi-flexible surface.
 3. A device as defined in claim 1 in whichthe recess in said curvilinear arm has a curvilinear bottom and in whichthe concavo-convex pad conforms to the curvilinear bottom.
 4. A deviceas defined in claim 3 in which the pad is of a vinyl plastic material.5. A device as defined in claim 3 in which said recess has an openingcommunicating through the bottom wall of said recess.